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Young Actors Guild To Put On A ‘Big’ Show

A 30-foot, “light-up” keyboard will help make big, colorful memories for theater-goers this month.

The Young Actors Guild will perform “Big — The Musical” at 7 p.m. June 13-15 and at 2 p.m. June 15-16 at the Alma Performing Arts Center, 103 E. Main St. in Alma. The same keyboard prop that was featured in the national-touring version in the mid-1990s will grace YAG’s performances, said Missy Gipson, YAG executive director.

“The keyboard is so cool,” she said. “It’s put together from four sections, and it’s monstrously big and wonderful. The sections light up, and it’s incredible to see.”

Also aiming to win over audiences will be the YAG cast and crew, Gipson said. More than 50 area children are involved in front of and behind the stage curtain, she said.

“Those who love the 1988 film version of ‘Big’ that starred Tom Hanks will find happiness and great things with this version,” Gipson said. “I think everybody will be able to relate to this story.

“In the story, Josh Baskin (Hunter Brown) just can’t wait to grow up, but when he does become an adult, everything isn’t what he thought it would be,” she added.

Paul Helm, a regional theater music director from Milwaukee, has relocated to Fort Smith to act as the musical director for the production, Gipson said.

“It’s exciting because Paul has performed, directed and music-directed regionally with the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Skylight Music Theatre, First Stage Children’s Theater, Florentine Opera Company and the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts,” she said.

Helm, who also has worked with the American Folklore Theatre, the Greenbrier Valley Theatre and Circa ‘21 Dinner Playhouse, is bringing a high level of professionalism and artistic integrity to the show, Gipson said.

“We have an amazing crew again this year,” she said. “Megan Truscott is the set designer, Steven Sellers is the technical director, and professional costume designer Erin Hagar also is on board. Erin is re-creating the 1990s through the fabric, patterns and colors of that funky and fun time period.”

Staff lighting designer is Mark Andrews, while local musician Tom Ware is sound designer for the production; Ware’s duties call for overseeing more than 25 microphones that will be used to capture the YAG acting and music, Gipson said.

“It’s so great to have so many children involved in this, and not one of them paid a participation fee to be involved,” she said. “This really is a high-quality art opportunity for kids who may not get that opportunity elsewhere, and ‘Big — The Musical’ will be a special event to see.”

Gipson said she hopes some of the characters’ dialogue, actions and reactions inspire all audience members.

“It’s fun because we see a green inflatable couch in an apartment, and why shouldn’t any adult feel like he or she could have a green inflatable couch in their house?” she said. “Hopefully, someone will see this production and then go out and get something like that for their house.”

Gipson then laughed.

“I mean, just because you’re not a kid anymore doesn’t mean you can’t have something like a basketball hoop in your living room,” she said. “Adults don’t have to stop dreaming and having that youthful energy and vision.”

“Susan says she doesn’t remember what she was like when she was 13,” she said. “Then she starts thinking about it and remembering what life was like when she was that age. She remembers she had her first big crush on someone, and then she remembers more.

“In a way, many adults can relate to that,” Gipson added. “At first, people might not remember what their life was like at that age, but once you start thinking about it, you go back to that time. You begin to remember what it was like, before all the responsibilities of adulthood, what it was like to be a kid.”

Curtain Call

“Big — The Musical”

Presented by the Young Actors Guild

When: 7 p.m. June 13-15 and 2 p.m. June 15-16

Where: Alma Performing Arts Center, 103 E. Main St. in Alma

Tickets are $15 for adults and can be purchased at www.almapac.org. Tickets for children 12 and younger are $10 and must be purchased by calling (479) 632-2129 or at the Alma PAC Box Office.